Is there a link to the article where these quotes from Jocketty are? I need it for my blog.
Is there a link to the article where these quotes from Jocketty are? I need it for my blog.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
Should there be some concern about Votto being 31 and hitting his lowest OPS since 2008?
goreds2 (12-02-2013)
Totally agree. When opening day hit, I thought to myself that this is the perfect lineup now with Luddy coming back from a great second half of 2012. As Walt J. said opening day, we have a great team but can't afford injuries due to lack of bench strength. When Luddy went down, my heart sank as I knew it would be tough to win it all without him.
(Sorry I went off topic)
Last edited by goreds2; 12-02-2013 at 06:56 PM. Reason: added comment
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
villain612 (12-21-2013)
Agree with all of this, and His style would fit a 2 hole hitter better. So bat him 2 and construct the lineup like that. I would dare B Price to try it for 30 games to see what happened, it would fit his non-normal baseball thinking blah blah rah rah stuff from the press conference
Bring on 2018! #%?*!
In my opinion, the biggest issue concerning Joey Votto in the lineup is not having anyone batting behind him to protect him. Hard to criticize a guy for not swinging at bad pitches. Reds either need to acquire a cleanup hitter for protection (Brandon Phillips scares nobody) or start batting Jay Bruce 4th. Votto will then start seeing better pitches, and start swinging the bat more.
Joey Votto is easily one of the best overall hitters in all of baseball. I don't like the idea of tinkering with that.
Slyder (12-27-2013)
Joey's knee was still bothering him last year. He's primed for a big one this year. I think we'll see a return to 30ish homeruns, more XBHs and a more appeased fanbase (even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with his production last year and he was still elite).
I see great things in baseball. It's our game.
How much would we be paying attention to this is if Ludwick wasn't hurt and overachieved like 2012?
I think part of what makes Votto so good is that he approaches every at bat the same way. There is almost a robotic consistency and in general I think that is a good thing.
However, there were some situations last year where Votto seemed to be just going about his general approach which would maximize his own OPS and not necessarily maximize the Reds' chances of winning the game.
98% of the time, maximizing your own success/stats in baseball coincides with maximizing the team's success. However, I do think there were occasions where Joey didn't play good situational baseball and maximize the Reds' chance of winning the game by his approach.
Is it Joey's fault that the guys hitting behind him were struggling mightily? Absolutely not.
Is it Joey's fault that he didn't adjust his approach in some specific situations to take into account that the guys behind him weren't hitting and thus a walk was much less valuable than a hit? Yes, if his top priority is winning games and not his own OPS.
Just my opinion...
64red (02-09-2014),Old school 1983 (03-02-2014)
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